What Are You Stitching?

For anyone who has ever tackled a large cross stitch project, you’ll know that completing it is always a cause for celebration. They take many hours of painstaking work and for every completed cross stitch in the world, there are probably 100 abandoned projects sitting in drawers and cupboards. So, the finished cross stitch projects we have for you today all deserve a round of applause, what amazing achievements!

‘This is a design by Ekaterina Volkova which I finished recently. She has her own following online because of how thoughtful her patterns are. They contain an exceptional blending of colours and it is a pleasure to work with them. She creates her own original patterns and also reworks famous works of art into cross stitch.’

The detail is fabulous and your finish is exceptional, Lyudmila. The combination of a great designer and a great stitcher has produced a masterpiece.

‘Many years ago, my beloved Dad brought home for me a DMC collection of cross stitch patterns based on Pre-Raphaelite paintings.’

‘I asked him to choose the one he liked the best. He chose Convent Lily, based on a painting by a female Pre-Raphaelite artist named Maria Spartali Stillman. I finished it for him in 2007, two years before he died at the age of 87. It had pride of place in his house and now hangs in mine.’

‘Now, I have decided to stitch another one of these as I am an admirer of the Arts and Crafts movement and the Pre-Raphaelite painters. I have chosen one based on the painting Il Ramoscello (The Twig) by Dante Gabriel Rosetti painted in 1865.

I love to do surface embroidery, hooking and needlepoint but do a lot of cross stitch too. The counting is meditative. Of course, when you make a mistake, it is very frustrating to unpick, but that is part of the process.’

These are beautiful projects, Christine. It shows what incredible results come out of persistence and dedication, well done.

‘I am a mom of four and wife to a Coast Guard. I love cross stitch and recently completed ‘The Departure’ which took over 5 years to finish.’

‘I started it when on bed rest with my third child after he knocked out two of my ribs! The pattern I had was not colour coded, so I coloured the pattern while recovering. The following year, I began stitching. 

We moved three times, added a fourth baby to the mix, and then a dog and a cat. No wonder it took five years! Finished, the sewn picture is 20” x 12” (51cm x 31cm) or around 312,000 stabs!’

What an impressive finish, despite everything else in your life that was going on! Remarkable effort, Crystal, congratulations.

‘During lockdown I finished this piece, which had taken 2 years and 8 months in total to complete. It is 34” x 30” (86cm x 76cm).  I added my own element to this piece by designing the Herdwick and including it alongside the other sheep. The original design is by Thea Gouverneur.’

What an impressive finish, Luiza. This should have pride of place on your wall.

Are you proud of a large cross stitch project which you’ve seen through to completion? Or do you prefer to stitch little projects that can be completed quickly? Whatever you like to stitch, we’d love to see it! Send us a picture of your completed work as well as a bit of information about the project and your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com